Purview of Dangerous Activities Act expanded

Bill passed after Opposition parties walk out

The Telangana Legislative Assembly passed three Bills to amend the existing Acts, including the Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act, after Congress, Bharatiya Janata Praty (BJP) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) members staged a walkout protesting the government refusal to send one of the bills to the select committee.

With a view to expand the purview of the existing Act by including several other offences, the government introduced a Bill to amend the Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Dacoits, Drug-Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Land-Grabbers Act, 1986 on Tuesday.

List of offenders

In the amendment, the government has included spurious seed offenders, insecticide offenders, fertiliser offenders, food adulteration offenders, fake document offenders, scheduled commodities offenders, forest offenders, gaming offenders, sexual offender, explosive substances offenders, arms offender, cyber crime offenders and white collar or financial offenders to be punished under its provisions.

Heated exchanges between the Treasury benches and the Opposition parties were witnessed during the debate on the Bill and when Home Minister Naini Narsimha Reddy observed that the attitude of the Opposition parties amounted to supporting such offenders, they faulted the remarks and demanded that the government send the Bill to the select committee. When their demand was rejected, members of the three parties staged walkout and the Bill was passed afterwards.Later, the bills to amend Road Development Corporation and Shops and Establishments Acts were also passed in the absence of the opposition members. The amendments proposed to the Shops and Establishments Acts provides for issuance of provisional certificate to shops and establishments who apply for licences and start their trade activities within 24 hours.